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Statistics and indicators on women and men

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Table 4a. Literacy
Last update: June 2009
	Year		Adult (15+) literacy rate		Youth (15-24) literacy rate
Country or area			Women	Men	Women	Men
Afghanistan	2000		13	43	18	51
Albania	2007	a	99	99	99	99
Algeria	2007	a	66	84	91	94
Angola	2001		54	83	63	84
Argentina	2007	a	98	98	99	99
Armenia	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Aruba	2007	a	98	98	99	99
Azerbaijan	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Bahrain	2007	a	86	90	100	100
Bangladesh	2007	a	48	59	73	71
Belarus	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Benin	2007	a	28	53	41	63
Bhutan	2007	a	42	67	73	83
Bolivia	2007	a	85	95	98	99
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2000		94	99	100	100
Botswana	2007	a	83	83	95	93
Brazil	2007	a	91	90	99	97
Brunei Darussalam	2007	a	93	96	100	100
Bulgaria	2007	a	98	99	97	98
Burkina Faso	2007		22	37	33	47
Burundi	2000		52	67	70	77
Cambodia	2007	a	68	86	83	90
Cameroon	2001		60	77	…	…
Cape Verde	2007	a	79	89	98	97
Central African Republic	2000		34	65	47	70
Chad	2000		13	41	23	56
Chile	2007	a	97	97	99	99
China	2007	a	90	96	99	99
China, Macao SAR	2007	a	90	96	100	100
Colombia	2007	a	93	94	98	98
Comoros	2007	a	70	80	87	92
Congo	2007	a	82	92	98	99
Costa Rica	2007	a	96	96	98	98
Côte d'Ivoire	2000		39	61	52	71
Croatia	2007		98	99	100	100
Cuba	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Cyprus	2007	a	97	99	100	100
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2001		54	81	63	78
Dominican Republic	2007	a	90	89	97	95
Ecuador	2007	a	92	94	97	96
Egypt	2007	a	61	84	82	90
El Salvador	2007	a	83	88	96	95
Equatorial Guinea	2000		80	93	95	95
Estonia	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Ethiopia	2004		23	50	39	62
Gabon	2007	a	82	90	96	98
Ghana	2007	a	58	72	76	80
Greece	2007	a	96	98	99	99
Guatemala	2007	a	68	79	83	88
Guinea	2003		18	43	34	59
Guinea-Bissau	2007	a	54	75	87	94
Haiti	2007		64	60	87	76
Honduras	2007	a	84	82	93	88
Hungary	2007	a	99	99	99	98
India	2007	a	54	77	77	87
Indonesia	2007	a	88	95	99	99
Iran, Islamic Republic of	2007	a	79	90	97	98
Iraq	2000		64	84	80	89
Italy	2007	a	99	99	100	100
Jamaica	2007	a	91	81	98	91
Jordan	2007	a	89	97	99	99
Kazakhstan	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Kenya	2000		70	78	81	80
Kuwait	2007	a	92	95	100	100
Kyrgyzstan	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2007	a	67	80	80	85
Latvia	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Lesotho	2001		90	74	…	…
Liberia	2007	a	51	60	76	68
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	2007	a	78	94	98	100
Lithuania	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Madagascar	2000		65	77	68	73
Malawi	2007	a	65	79	82	84
Malaysia	2007	a	90	94	98	98
Maldives	2007	a	97	97	98	98
Mali	2007	a	16	31	23	36
Malta	2007	a	93	90	99	96
Mauritania	2007	a	48	63	62	70
Mauritius	2007	a	85	90	97	95
Mexico	2007	a	91	94	98	98
Mongolia	2007	a	98	97	97	94
Morocco	2007	a	43	69	67	84
Mozambique	2007	a	33	57	47	58
Myanmar	2000		86	94	93	96
Namibia	2007	a	87	89	94	91
Nepal	2007	a	44	70	73	85
Netherlands Antilles	2007	a	96	96	98	98
Nicaragua	2007	a	81	80	92	85
Niger	2007	a	16	44	26	53
Nigeria	2007	a	64	80	85	89
Occupied Palestinian Territory	2007	a	89	97	99	99
Oman	2007	a	78	89	98	99
Pakistan	2007	a	40	69	60	79
Panama	2007	a	93	94	96	97
Papua New Guinea	2007	a	53	62	65	63
Paraguay	2007	a	93	94	97	96
Peru	2007	a	86	95	97	99
Philippines	2007	a	94	93	95	94
Poland	2007	a	99	100	99	100
Portugal	2007	a	93	97	100	100
Qatar	2007	a	90	90	98	97
Republic of Moldova	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Romania	2007	a	97	98	98	97
Russian Federation	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Rwanda	2000		60	71	77	79
Samoa	2007	a	98	99	99	99
Sao Tome and Principe	2007	a	83	93	95	95
Saudi Arabia	2007	a	79	89	96	98
Senegal	2007	a	32	53	44	59
Seychelles	2002		92	91	99	99
Sierra Leone	2007	a	27	50	44	64
Singapore	2007	a	92	97	100	100
Slovenia	2007	a	100	100	100	100
South Africa	2007	a	87	89	96	95
Spain	2007	a	96	99	100	100
Sri Lanka	2007	a	90	93	98	97
Sudan	2000	a	52	71	71	85
Suriname	2007	a	88	93	95	96
Swaziland	2000	a	78	81	90	87
Syrian Arab Republic	2007	a	76	90	92	95
Tajikistan	2007	a	100	100	100	100
Thailand	2007	a	93	96	98	98
The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia	2007	a	95	99	99	99
Togo	2000		38	69	64	84
Tonga	2007	a	99	99	100	100
Trinidad and Tobago	2007	a	98	99	100	100
Tunisia	2007	a	69	86	94	97
Turkey	2007	a	81	96	94	98
Turkmenistan	2007	a	99	100	100	100
Uganda	2007	a	66	82	84	88
Ukraine	2007	a	100	100	100	100
United Arab Emirates	2007	a	89	91	96	99
United Republic of Tanzania	2007	a	66	79	76	79
Uruguay	2007	a	98	98	99	98
Uzbekistan	2000		96	98	99	99
Vanuatu	2007	a	76	80	92	92
Venezuela	2001		93	93	98	96
Yemen	2007	a	40	77	67	93
Zimbabwe	2007	a	88	94	99	98

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Sources:

UNESCO Institute for Statistics, National literacy rates for youths (15-24) and adults (15+), available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed June 2009).

Footnotes:

...	Not available.
a	UIS estimation.

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Technical notes:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines a literate person as someone who can both read and write with understanding, a short, simple statement on his or her everyday life. A person who can only read but not write, or can write but not read is considered to be illiterate. A person who can only write figures, his or her name or a memorized ritual phrase is also not considered literate.

This definition of literacy is widely used in national population censuses and surveys but its interpretation and application may vary to some extent among countries, depending on national, social and cultural circumstances. Furthermore, this concept of literacy includes persons who, though familiar with the basics of reading and writing, might still be considered functionally illiterate.

For many countries or areas, literacy rates are not available for one or more of the following reasons: (a) illiteracy is believed to have been reduced to minimal levels through several decades of universal primary education, (b) it has not been possible to establish revised estimates following recent mass literacy campaigns, (c) not even a minimal database is available for making rough estimates, or (d) countries have preferred that no estimate be published.